Skip to main content
Inside The Huskies

Jonah Coleman Still Laments Missing Husky Game

The running back admittedly was surprised that understudy Adam Mohammed transferred.
Dan Raley|
Jonah Coleman's facemask offers a reflection of what he sees.
Jonah Coleman's facemask offers a reflection of what he sees. | Dave Sizer photo

Jonah Coleman forever will be that team guy, the one totally invested in being part of a tribe.

As Husky Pro Day pulled to a close the week before, the former University of Washington running back stepped in front of a crowd of media types recording him with video cameras and cell phones, and was still lamenting the fact he sat out last year's UW-Purdue game.

"I missed one college football game, no high school football games, no little league games -- that was the first game I ever missed," Coleman said inside Dempsey Indoor. "I did everything in my power to finish off with the boys."

On this day, he looked as healthy and as fit as ever after five months earlier having someone roll up on his leg in the Wisconsin game and not only sideline him against the Boilermakers but greatly limit his carries against UCLA and Oregon, too.

One of those aforementioned boys was Adam Mohammed, Coleman's then sophomore understudy who got a chance to show what he could do and this led to him transferring to California.

Coleman, who had joked he felt like a proud dad when Mohammed rushed for108 yards against UCLA, admittedly was surprised like everyone else when his former teammate chose to go elsewhere to play.

"Yeah, I mean, but I'm happy for him.," he said. "That's still my guy at the end of the day."

As for himself, Coleman attended the NFL Scouting Combine to answer any questions about his health setbacks, as well as to handle the pressure of the next level, and he seemed satisfied by how it played out. Especially the mental side of it.

"When you go into an interview, they try to, you know, mess up your mind a little bit," he said, drawing a few laughs. "They ask you tough questions to get you out of character sometimes, and it was just be able to keep your composure and stick to the script."

Now that he's done, along with Mohammed, the Huskies have been scrambling somewhat to find running-back successors in Coleman's absence.

Jonah Coleman gets free on a 25-yard run against Boise State in the LA Bowl.
Jonah Coleman gets free on a 25-yard run against Boise State in the LA Bowl. | Dave Sizer photo

Besides Jordan Washington, Quaid Carr and Julian McMahan returning and multiple freshmen joining the competition, the UW went out and pulled Jayden Limar from Oregon and Trey Cooley from Troy out of the transfer portal.

"With the development process being in Jedd Fisch's progarm, they're going to be fine," Coleman said. "With [RB coaches] Scottie Graham and Dom Caldwell and those guys in the room, there's no doubt in my mind they're going to be great."

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published
Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

Home/Football